SE1651504A1 - Apparatus for generating muons with intended use in a fusionreactor - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT An apparatus for generating muons, comprising: a hydrogenaccumulator including an inlet; an outlet separated from the inlet by a flowpath; a hydrogen transfer catalyst arranged along the flow path between theinlet and the outlet; and an accumulating member for receiving hydrogen inultra-dense state from the outlet at a receiving portion of the accumulatingmember and accumulating the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state at anaccumulation portion of the accumulating member. The accumulatingmember has a downward sloping surface from the receiving portion to theaccumulation portion. The apparatus further includes a field source, such as alaser, arranged to provide, to the accumulation portion of the accumulatingmember, a field adapted to stimulate emission of negative muons fromhydrogen in the ultra-dense state. The apparatus further includes a speciallydesigned barrier and a shield to retain the super-fluid ultra-dense hydrogen from creeping away from the accumulation portion of the generator. Publication fig: Fig 2

Description

APPARATUS FOR GENERATING MUONS WITH INTENDED USE IN AFUSION REACTOR Field of the lnvention The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating muons.

Backqround of the lnvention Fusion is one of the candidates for future large scale generation ofenergy without the emission problems associated with burning fossil fuel andthe fuel disposal problem of traditional fission nuclear power.

Research into energy generation using fusion follows a number ofparallel tracks. Most effort is currently spent on developing reactors formagnetic confinement fusion and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Both ofthese tracks involve difficult problems, and it is unlikely that reliable andcommercially viable fusion reactors using any of these techniques will be inoperation in the near future.

An alternative process known as muon-catalyzed fusion has beenknown since the 1950's, and was initially seen as promising. However, it wassoon realized that each muon, even if it were absolutely stable, could onlycatalytically react about 100 to 300 times because of a phenomenon knownas “alpha-sticking” even in the most advantageous case of tritium-deuterium fusion. ln addition, muons are unstable particles, which decay in about 2.2 us.

Existing methods of producing muons, for instance using protonaccelerators, are expensive and much energy is required in the muonproduction. Hence, to make muon-catalyzed fusion practically useful, there is a need for a cheaper and more energy-efficient way of producing muons.

Summarylt is an object of the present invention to address the above, and to provide for energy generation by muon catalyzed fusion using ultra-densehydrogen as the working substance for producing muons.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, it is thereforeprovided an apparatus for generating muons, comprising: a hydrogenaccumulator including: an inlet for receiving hydrogen in a gaseous state; anoutlet separated from the inlet by a flow path; a hydrogen transfer catalystarranged along the flow path between the inlet and the outlet, the hydrogentransfer catalyst having a material composition being selected to cause atransition of hydrogen from the gaseous state to an ultra-dense state; and anaccumulating member for receiving hydrogen in the ultra-dense state from theoutlet at a receiving portion of the accumulating member and accumulatingthe hydrogen in the ultra-dense state at an accumulation portion of theaccumulating member, the accumulating member being configured to providea downward sloping surface from the receiving portion to the accumulationportion; and a field source arranged to provide, to the accumulation portion ofthe accumulating member, a field adapted to stimulate emission of negativemuons from hydrogen in the ultra-dense state.

“Hydrogen” should, in the context of the present application, beunderstood to include any isotope or mix of isotopes where the nucleus has asingle proton. ln particular, hydrogen includes protium, deuterium, tritium andany combination of these.

By hydrogen in an “ultra-dense state” should, at least in the context ofthe present application, be understood hydrogen in the form of a quantummaterial (quantum fluid) in which adjacent nuclei are within much less thanone Bohr radius of each other. ln other words, the nucleus-nucleus distancein the ultra-dense state is considerably less than 50 pm. ln the following,hydrogen in the ultra-dense state will be referred to as H(0) (or D(0) whendeuterium is specifically referred to). The terms “hydrogen in an ultra-densestate” and “ultra-dense hydrogen” are used synonymously throughout thisapplication.

A “hydrogen transfer catalyst” is any catalyst capable of absorbinghydrogen gas molecules (H2) and dissociating these molecules to atomichydrogen, that is, catalyze the reaction H2 -> 2H. The name hydrogentransfer catalyst implies that the so-formed hydrogen atoms on the catalyst surface can rather easily attach to other molecules on the surface and thus betransferred from one molecule to another. The hydrogen transfer catalyst mayfurther be configured to cause a transition of the hydrogen into the ultra-dense state if the hydrogen atoms are prevented from re-forming covalentbonds. The mechanisms behind the catalytic transition from the gaseousstate to the ultra-dense state are quite well understood, and it has beenexperimentally shown that this transition can be achieved using varioushydrogen transfer catalysts, including, for example, commercially availableso-called styrene catalysts, as well as (purely) metallic catalysts, such aslridium and Platinum. lt should be noted that the hydrogen transfer catalystdoes not necessarily have to transition the hydrogen in the gaseous state tothe ultra-dense state directly upon contact with the hydrogen transfer catalyst.lnstead, the hydrogen in the gaseous state may first be caused to transition toa dense state H(1), to later spontaneously transition to the ultra-dense stateH(0). Also in this latter case, the hydrogen transfer catalyst has caused thehydrogen to transition from the gaseous state to the ultra-dense state. ln the dense state H(1), which is a higher-energy state than the ultra-dense state, the distance between adjacent nuclei is around 150 pm.

That ultra-dense hydrogen has actually been formed can bedetermined by irradiating the result of the catalytic reaction with a laser andthen measuring the time of flight or velocity of the emitted particles. Anexample of such determination will be described in greater detail under theheading “Experimental results” further below.

The properties of ultra-dense hydrogen and methods for causinggaseous hydrogen to transition to ultra-dense hydrogen using different typesof hydrogen transfer catalysts, as well as methods for detecting the presenceand location of ultra-dense hydrogen, have been studied extensively by thepresent inventor and others. Results of these studies have, for example, beenpublished in: S. Badiei, P.U. Andersson, and L. Holmlid, lnt. J. Hydrogen Energy 34,487 (2009); S. Badiei, P.U. Andersson, and L. Holmlid, lnt. J. Mass. Spectrom. 282,70 (2009); L. Holmlid, Eur. Phys. J. A 48 (2012) 11; and P.U. Andersson, B. Lönn, and L. Holmlid, Review of ScientificInstruments 82, 013503 (2011).

Each of these scientific articles is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety. lt should be understood that the above-mentioned downward slopingsurface from the receiving portion to the accumulation portion of theaccumulating member is downwards sloping when the apparatus for muongeneration according to embodiments of the present invention is set up foroperation.

The present invention is based on the realization that muons can begenerated cheaper and more energy efficiently than using conventionalmethods, by accumulating ultra-dense hydrogen and subjecting theaccumulated ultra-dense hydrogen to a perturbing field (such as anelectromagnetic field, including purely electric or magnetic fields). The presentinventor has further realized that ultra-dense hydrogen can be accumulatedby providing a downward sloping surface between one or several supplylocations for ultra-dense hydrogen and an accumulation portion. Through thisconfiguration, gravity and feed gas flow will co-operate to move the ultra-dense hydrogen from the supply locations to the accumulation portion, whereultra-dense hydrogen is thus accumulated and can be subjected to theperturbing field, such as laser radiation, to generate muons.

According to embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention,the hydrogen accumulator may further comprise: a hydrogen flow barriersurrounding the receiving portion, the accumulation portion and the downwardsloping surface for reducing escape of hydrogen in the ultra-dense state fromthe receiving portion away from the accumulation portion.

Due to the super-fluid properties of ultra-dense hydrogen, the ultra-dense hydrogen will flow upwards, away from the accumulating portion. Theprovision of the above-mentioned hydrogen flow barrier can prevent, or at least substantially reduce the escape of ultra-dense hydrogen, which is due tothe super-fluid properties of the ultra-dense hydrogen. Accordingly, the ratioof accumulated ultra-dense hydrogen to escaped ultra-dense hydrogen canbe increased, which in turn provides for more efficient muon generation.

The barrier may advantageously have at least an outer surface facingthe surrounded area that is made of a material that does not support creepingof ultra-dense hydrogen. Examples of such materials include variouspolymers, glass, and base metal oxides, such as aluminum oxide.

According to various embodiments, the hydrogen accumulator mayfurther comprise a shielding member arranged between the accumulatingmember and the field source and shielding the outlet and the receivingportion.

The provision of a shielding member may further reduce escape ofultra-dense hydrogen, and may further protect the hydrogen transfer catalyst,at least in embodiments where the hydrogen transfer catalyst would otherwisebe exposed to laser radiation.

Furthermore, the shielding member may advantageously be arrangedto expose the accumulation portion to the field provided by the field source. lnembodiments where the above-mentioned perturbing field is provided in theform of laser radiation, the shielding member may be open over theaccumulation portion to allow the laser radiation to hit the accumulated ultra-dense hydrogen in the accumulation portion.

As described above for the barrier, at least a surface of the shieldingmember facing the accumulating member may be made of a materialselected from the group consisting of a polymer, and a base metal oxide, toreduce creeping of ultra-dense hydrogen.

According to various embodiments, furthermore, the hydrogenaccumulator may further comprise a metallic absorbing member for absorbinghydrogen in the ultra-dense state, arranged in the accumulation portion of the hydrogen accumulating member.

Hereby, the super-fluid ultra-dense hydrogen can be retained in theaccumulation portion, which provides for a more efficient generation ofmuons.

Advantageously, the metallic absorbing member may be made of atleast one material selected from the group consisting of a metal in a liquidstate at an operating temperature for the apparatus, and a catalytically activemetal in a solid state at the operating temperature for the apparatus.

Examples of suitable materials for the metallic absorbing memberinclude liquid or easily melted metals like Ga or K, and solid catalyticallyactive metals like Pt or Ni etc.

According to various embodiments, the apparatus of the invention mayfurther comprise a heating arrangement for increasing a temperature of theaccumulating member comprised in the hydrogen accumulator.

By increasing the temperature of the accumulating member, the ultra-dense hydrogen can be transitioned from a super fluid to a normal fluid, whichmay reduce the amount of ultra-dense hydrogen escaping from theaccumulating member through super-fluid creeping.

According to embodiments, moreover, the outlet may be arranged atthe receiving portion of the accumulating member. Further, the outlet may anintegral portion of the accumulating member.

The hydrogen transfer catalyst may advantageously be porous, so thatthe hydrogen in the gaseous state can flow through the pores. This willprovide for a large contact area between the hydrogen gas and the hydrogentransfer catalyst. At the same time, however, flow through the pores only willlimit the attainable flow rate and thus possibly the rate of production of ultra-dense hydrogen.

The present inventor has found that flow through the pores of thehydrogen transfer catalyst is not necessary for causing the transition of thehydrogen from the gaseous state to the ultra-dense state, but that thehydrogen transfer catalyst is capable of causing this transition at a larger distance and more efficiently than was previously believed. Accordingly, the hydrogen gas can be allowed to flow over a surface of the hydrogen transfercatalyst rather than be forced to flow through the hydrogen transfer catalyst.

According to various aspects, furthermore, the field source may be alaser arranged to irradiate hydrogen in the ultra-dense state accumulated inthe accumulation portion of the accumulating member; the accumulatingmember comprised in the hydrogen accumulator may have an lower face anda concave upper face with a plurality of holes extending from the lower face tothe concave upper face, each hole in the plurality of holes defining a flow pathhaving an inlet on the lower face and an outlet on the upper face, a lowestportion of the upper concave face being the accumulation portion; and eachof the holes may accommodate a hydrogen transfer catalyst having thematerial composition being selected to cause transition of hydrogen from thegaseous state to the ultra-dense state. Further, a barrier may surround theupper face; and a shielding member having a shielding member opening isarranged to, together with the barrier and the upper face form a partlyenclosed space for preventing escape of hydrogen in the ultra-dense state,while allowing the laser to irradiate the accumulation portion through theshielding member opening.

Moreover, the apparatus for generating muons, according to variousembodiments of the present invention may advantageously be included in afusion reactor, further comprising a hydrogen vessel, wherein the apparatus isarranged to generate negative muons impinging on the hydrogen vessel, tocatalyze fusion in the hydrogen vessel. ln summary, the present invention relates to an apparatus forgenerating muons, comprising: a hydrogen accumulator including an inlet; anoutlet separated from the inlet by a flow path; a hydrogen transfer catalystarranged along the flow path between the inlet and the outlet; and anaccumulating member for receiving hydrogen in ultra-dense state from theoutlet at a receiving portion of the accumulating member and accumulatingthe hydrogen in the ultra-dense state at an accumulation portion of theaccumulating member. The accumulating member has a downward sloping surface from the receiving portion to the accumulation portion. lt has also several advanced features for handling the superfluid ultra-dense material likea barrier and a shield. The apparatus further includes a field source, such asa laser, arranged to provide, to the accumulation portion of the accumulatingmember, a field adapted to stimulate emission of negative muons fromhydrogen in the ultra-dense state.

Brief Description of the Drawinqs These and other aspects of the present invention will now be describedin more detail, with reference to the appended drawings showing exampleembodiments of the invention, wherein: Fig 1 is a schematic block diagram of a fusion reactor including a muongenerator according to embodiments of the present invention; Fig 2 is an exploded perspective view of an example embodiment ofthe apparatus for generating muons, according to the present invention; Fig 3 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary measurement setupfor detecting generation of negative muons; Fig 4 is a diagram of measurements obtained using a similar setup asthat shown in fig 3.

Detailed Description of Example Embodiments Fig 1 is a schematic block diagram functionally illustrating a fusionreactor for muon catalyzed fusion using muon generator according toembodiments of the present invention.

The fusion reactor 1 comprises a muon generator 10, a vessel 3containing hydrogen gas (which may, for example, be a suitable mix ofprotium, deuterium, and tritium), a vaporizer 5, and an electrical generator 7.

As is schematically shown in fig 1, muons generated by the muongenerator 10 are used for catalyzing fusion according to, per se, known fusionreactions in the vessel 3. Heat resulting from the fusion reactions in thevessel 3 is used for vaporizing a process fluid, such as water, in thevaporizer. The resulting vapor-phase process fluid, such as steam, is used to drive the electrical generator 7, resulting in output of electrical energy. lf onlyheat is needed, the electrical generator is not needed.

Fig 2 is a schematic illustration of an example embodiment of theapparatus for generating muons according to the present invention. ln thefollowing, the apparatus will generally be referred to as “muon generator”.

With reference to fig 2, the muon generator 10 comprises a hydrogenaccumulator 13, and a field source, here in the form of a laser (not shown infig 2, but represented by a block arrow illustrating a laser beam 15). As isschematically indicated in fig 2, the hydrogen accumulator 13 comprises ahydrogen gas intake member 17, an accumulating member 19, a barrier 21,here in the form of a gasket and a shielding member 23.

As is shown in fig 2, the accumulating member 19 has a lower face 25and a concave upper face 27. ln the particular example shown in fig 2, theconcave upper face 27 is generally conical, with a rounded apex. A plurality ofholes 29 (only one of the holes is indicated by a reference numeral to avoidcluttering the drawings) extend through the accumulating member 19 from thelower face 25 to the upper face 27, and a corresponding plurality of hydrogentransfer catalyst plugs 31 (only one of the catalyst plugs is indicated by areference numeral to avoid cluttering the drawings) are accommodated by theholes 29. ln the example embodiment of fig 2, the lower face 25 of theaccumulating member 19 forms the lid of an inlet chamber 33 for hydrogengas, further defined by the hydrogen gas intake member 17. Each of theholes 29 formed through the accumulating member 19 has an inlet 35 forreceiving hydrogen gas from the inlet chamber 23, and an outlet 37 forproviding ultra-dense hydrogen to receiving portions 39 on the upper face 27of the accumulating member 19.

Due to the conical shape of the upper face 27 of the accumulatingmember 19, the ultra-dense hydrogen provided to the receiving portions 39tends to mainly flow towards the accumulation portion 41 at the bottom of the”bowl” formed by the upper face 27 of the accumulating member 19.

Due to the super-fluid behavior of ultra-dense hydrogen (below atransition temperature between the super-fluid state and the normal-fluid stateof ultra-dense hydrogen), some of the ultra-dense hydrogen provided to thereceiving portions 39 may flow upwards, away from the accumulation portion41. This flow is hindered by the barrier 21, and also by the shieldingmember 23.

To even further increase the amount of ultra-dense hydrogen in theaccumulation portion 41, the hydrogen accumulating member 13 additionallycomprises an ultra-dense hydrogen retaining member 43 arranged in theaccumulation portion 41. The ultra-dense hydrogen retaining member 43may, as was explained further above in the Summary section, be made of aliquid metal or a solid metal capable of absorbing ultra-dense hydrogen. lt should be noted that many different shapes of the concave upperface 27 are possible. For instance, the concave upper face 27 need not berotationally symmetrical, as long as there is a sloping surface portion from thereceiving portion(s) 29 towards the accumulation portion 41.

The ultra-dense hydrogen accumulated in the accumulation portion 41is subjected to a perturbing field using the field source (indicated by the laserbeam 15). ln the example embodiment of fig 2, the field source is a laser andthe perturbing field is thus provided in the form of laser radiation.

The person skilled in the art realizes that the present invention by nomeans is limited to the preferred embodiments described above. On thecontrary, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope ofthe appended claims. ln the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elementsor steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. Themere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependentclaims does not indicate that a combination of these measured cannot beused to advantage.

Theoretical discussion Ultra-dense hydrogen and muon generation 11 Ultra-dense hydrogen H(0) is a quantum material at room temperature.lt is described in several scientific publications, with detailed studies of thestructure of D(0) and also of its protium analog p(0). lt is shown to be bothsuperfluid and superconductive at room temperature. Due to the normallymeasured very short p-p and D-D distances of 2.3 pm and below, the densityof H(0) is very high.

While ordinary (orbital angular momentum l) based Rydberg matter hasl > 0 for its binding electrons, this ultra-dense matter has l = 0 and s > 0 (1, 2,3, 4...) which is the spin quantum number for the binding electrons. Thus, theelectrons which give the ultra-dense matter structure have no orbital motion,but only a spin motion. This electron spin motion may be interpreted as amotion of the charge with orbit radius rq= h/2mec = 0.192 pm and with thevelocity of light c ('Zitterbewegung'). This spin motion is centered on the Hatoms and may give a planar structure for the H-H pairs as in the case of theplanar clusters for ordinary Rydberg matter. This means that the interatomicdistance in ordinary Rydberg matter which is d = 2.9 Iz ao is replaced with d =2.9 sz rq for the ultra-dense matter, as verified by direct measurements. Here,2.9 is a constant determined numerically for ordinary Rydberg matter andconfirmed experimentally by radio frequency spectroscopy. lt is alsoconfirmed for ultra-dense hydrogen by visible emission spectroscopy. TheBohr radius is indicated as ao. The spin-circling electronic charges provide thenecessary shielding of the nuclei which keeps the material strongly bound,similar to ordinary Rydberg matter but with much larger binding energies.

The mechanism of formation of ultra-dense matter starts with theformation of higher normal Rydberg matter levels (l = 1-3), which are formedspontaneously at the catalyst surface. lt implies that the ultra-dense hydrogenis formed from ordinary Rydberg matter levels l = 1-3 falling down to the lowerenergy ultra- dense states. The nuclear processes taking place in H(0)spontaneously and under laser impact or other field induction processes arestill not completely known. However, several different steps have beenstudied separately. For example, the laser induces the transition from s=2 tos=1 in H(0). The total process giving the negative muons required for the 12 muon-catalyzed fusion starts with the ultra-dense hydrogen particles HN(0) and is proposed to be:HN(0)(s=1)->->(pe)(pe)->n n -> K* + KO + rr* -> decay -> u, where n is an anti-neutron, formed from the "quasi-neutrons" (pe)(proton + electron). The mesons formed are all types of kaons and pions, andit is likely that three kaons are formed from each HN(O) particle since thisconserves the number of quarks. Over all, the number of quarks is largelyunchanged in the meson formation step, but further pair production of pions isalso possible which does not conserve the number of quarks. The processshown is highly exoergic and gives much more than 100 MeV to the particlesejected from each pair of protons. This should be compared to ordinary D+Dfusion, which has an output per pair of deuterons of 4-14 MeV depending on the conditions like temperature.

Catalytic conversion The catalytic process for converting hydrogen gas to ultra-densehydrogen may employ commercial so called styrene catalysts, i.e. a type ofsolid catalyst used in the chemical industry for producing styrene (for plasticproduction) from ethylene benzene. This type of catalyst is made from porousFe-O material with several different additives, especially potassium (K) as socalled promoter. The function of this catalyst has been studied in detail byseveral different groups.

The catalyst is designed to split off hydrogen atoms from ethyl benzeneso that a carbon-carbon double bond is formed, and then to combine thehydrogen atoms so released to hydrogen molecules which easily desorbthermally from the catalyst surface. This reaction is reversible: if hydrogenmolecules are added to the catalyst they are dissociated to hydrogen atomswhich are adsorbed on the surface. This is a general process in hydrogentransfer catalysts. We utilize this mechanism to produce ultra-dense 13 hydrogen, which requires that covalent bonds in hydrogen molecules are notallowed to form after the adsorption of hydrogen in the catalyst.

The potassium promoter in the catalyst provides for a more efficientformation of ultra-dense hydrogen. Potassium (and for example other alkalimetals) easily forms so called circular Rydberg atoms K*. ln such atoms, thevalence electron is in a nearly circular orbit around the ion core, in an orbitvery similar to a Bohr orbit. At a few hundred °C not only Rydberg states areformed at the surface, but also small clusters of Rydberg states KN*, in a formcalled Rydberg Matter (RM).

The clusters KN* transfer part of their excitation energy to the hydrogenatoms at the catalyst surface. This process takes place during thermalcollisions in the surface phase. This gives formation of clusters HN* (where Hindicates proton, deuteron, or triton) in the ordinary process also giving theKN* formation, namely cluster assembly during the desorption process. lf thehydrogen atoms could form covalent bonds, molecules H2 would insteadleave the catalyst surface and no ultra-dense material could be formed. ln theRM material, the electrons are not in so-called s orbitals since they alwayshave an orbital angular momentum greater than zero. This implies thatcovalent bonds cannot be formed since the electrons on the atoms must be ins orbitals to form the normal covalent sigma (o) bonds in H2. The lowestenergy level for hydrogen in the form of RM is metallic (dense) hydrogencalled H(1), with a bond length of 150 picometer (pm). The hydrogen materialfalls down to this level by emission of mainly infrared radiation. Densehydrogen is then spontaneously converted to ultra-dense hydrogen calledH(0) with a bond distance of 0.5 - 5 pm depending on the spin level. Thismaterial is a quantum material (quantum fluid) which may involve bothelectron pairs (Cooper pairs) and nuclear pairs (proton, deuteron or tritonpairs, or mixed pairs). These materials are both superfluid and superconductive at room temperature, as confirmed in several experiments. 14 Experimental resultsResults are here given which characterize a muon generator like the apparatus 10 schematically shown in fig 2, with reference to fig 3 illustratingan experimental setup, and fig 4 showing results of measurements carried outusing a similar experimental setup.

Referring to fig 3, the experimental setup comprises a vacuumchamber 51, the muon generator 10 described above with reference to fig 2,a toroidal coil 53, and a collector 55. There is a first distance d1 between theaccumulation portion 41 and the coil, and a second distance d2 between theaccumulation portion 41 and the collector 55. As is schematically indicated infig 3, the vacuum chamber 51 has a window 54 for allowing passage of alaser beam 15. A lens 56 is provided inside the vacuum chamber 51 forfocusing the laser beam 15 at the accumulation portion 41 of the muongenerator 10.

The D2 gas pressure in the vacuum chamber 51 is around 1 mbar withconstant pumping. ln the present experimental setup, the field source comprised in themuon generator is a pulsed laser with pulse length in the few nanosecondrange. Both visible and infrared laser light give similar behavior. The pulseenergy used for the typical experiments is of the order of 200 - 400 mJ. With apulse repetition rate of 10 Hz typical, this means only 2 - 4 W of laser poweroutside the vacuum chamber. The effective laser power at the muongenerator is somewhat lower, due to losses by reflection in beam steeringmirrors, in the glass window 54 in the vacuum chamber wall and in thefocusing lens 56.

The laser beam is normally focused on the accumulation portion 41 ofthe muon generator using a lens 56 of 40-50 mm focal length, but thefocusing is not critical.

Experiments have been performed with a current transformer whichdirectly measures the current from the laser-induced nuclear processes usingthe toroidal coil 53. A wire is there wound around a ferrite toroidal core, witharound 20 turns of wire on a toroid of a few cm diameter. The pulse of charges from the laser-induced nuclear processes on the generator isobserved as an induced current in the coil. This is a standard method ofmeasuring the pulse current for example in e|ectron acce|erators with theparticles moving at re|ativistic velocities. ln the present experiments, thebeam passing through the coi| is additionally observed the foil co||ector 55.This means that absolute calibration is possible.

For a somewhat simplified measurement case using similar equipmentas that schematically illustrated in fig 3, fig 4 shows a first signal 57 obtainedfrom a coi|, such as the coi| 53 in fig 3, and a second signal 59 obtained froma co||ector, such as the co||ector in fig 3. The known distance between the coi|53 and the co||ector 55 of about 1 m, and the measured delay of about 3 nsindicates charged particles traveling close to the speed of light. Since the coi|only gives a signal due to charged particles, photons are excluded as theparticles giving the signals.

The curve shape of the signal in Fig 4 agrees well with that calculatedfor a meson in a decay chain, with a time constant for the decay of 12 ns.This is the characteristic decay time for charged kaons Kf. ln severalpublished studies also characteristic decay times of 26 and 52 ns have beenmeasured, indicating decay of charged pions fr* and neutral long-lived kaonsKf. lt is well-known that all these particles decay to the much more long-livedmuons pi, which are the particles mainly observed in the coi| and at theco||ector in Fig 4. Relevant publications include: L. Holmlid, lnt. J. Modern Phys. E 24 (2015) 1550026.

L. Holmlid, lnt. J. Modern Phys. E 24 (2015) 1550080.

L. Holmlid, lnt. J. Modern Phys. E 25 (2016) 1650085.

To ascertain that muons are formed, also several published studieshave directly measured the decay of the muons and their interaction withmatter including electron-positron pair production. The direct decay time offree muons at 2.2 us has also been measured, and slightly shorter decaytimes due to muon interaction with other particles like nuclei. Relevantpublications include: 16 L. Holmlid and S. Olafsson, Int. J. Hydr. Energy 40 (2015) 10559-10567.

L. Holmlid and S. Olafsson, Rev. Sci. lnstrum. 86, 083306 (2015).

L. Holmlid and S. Olafsson, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 41 (2016) 1080- 1088.

S. Olafsson and L. Holmlid, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 2016/4/16.

BAPS.2016.APR.E9.9.

Claims (14)

1. An apparatus for generating muons, comprising:an ultra-dense hydrogen accumulator including:an inlet for receiving hydrogen in a gaseous state;an outlet separated from said inlet by a flow path;a hydrogen transfer catalyst arranged along the flow pathbetween said inlet and said outlet, said hydrogen transfer catalyst having amaterial composition being selected to cause a transition of hydrogen fromthe gaseous state to an ultra-dense state; andan accumulating member for receiving hydrogen in the ultra-dense state from said outlet at a receiving portion of the accumulatingmember and accumulating said hydrogen in the ultra-dense state at anaccumulation portion of the accumulating member, the accumulating memberbeing configured to provide a downward sloping surface from said receivingportion to said accumulation portion; anda field source arranged to provide, to the accumulation portion of saidaccumulating member, a field adapted to stimulate or induce emission ofnegative muons from hydrogen in the ultra-dense state.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said hydrogenaccumulator further comprises: a barrier surrounding said receiving portion, said accumulation portionand said downward sloping surface for reducing escape of hydrogen in the ultra-dense state.

3.The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said barrier has at leastan outer surface made of a material selected from the group consisting of a polymer, and a base metal oxide.

4. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said hydrogen accumulator further comprises: 18 a shielding member arranged between said accumulating member and said field source and shielding said outlet and said receiving portion.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said shielding memberis arranged to expose said accumulation portion to the field provided by saidfield source.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein at least a surfaceof said shielding member facing said accumulating member is made of amaterial selected from the group consisting of a polymer, a base metal oxide, and a metal.

7. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims,wherein said hydrogen accumulator further comprises: a metallic absorbing member for absorbing hydrogen in the ultra-densestate, arranged in said accumulation portion of the hydrogen accumulating member.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said metallic absorbingmember is made of at least one material selected from the group consisting ofa metal in a liquid state at an operating temperature for said apparatus and acatalytically active metal in a solid state at the operating temperature for said apparatus.

9. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, furthercomprising a heating arrangement for increasing a temperature of the accumulating member comprised in said hydrogen accumulator.

10. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims,wherein said outlet is arranged at the receiving portion of said accumulating member. 19

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said outlet is anintegral portion of said accumulating member.

12. The apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims,wherein said field source is a laser arranged to irradiate the accumulationportion of said accumulating member of the hydrogen accumulator.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said field source is a laser arranged to irradiate hydrogen inthe ultra-dense state accumulated in the accumulation portion of saidaccumulating member; wherein the accumulating member comprised in said hydrogenaccumulator has an lower face and a concave upper face with a plurality ofholes extending from said lower face to said concave upper face, each hole insaid plurality of holes defining a flow path having an inlet on said lower faceand an outlet on said upper face, a lowest portion of said upper concave facebeing said accumulation portion; wherein each of said holes accommodates a hydrogen transfer catalysthaving said material composition being selected to cause transition ofhydrogen from the gaseous state to the ultra-dense state; wherein a barrier surrounds said upper face; and wherein a shielding member having a shielding member opening isarranged to, together with said barrier and said upper face form a partlyenclosed space for preventing escape of hydrogen in the ultra-dense state,while allowing said laser to irradiate said accumulation portion through saidshielding member opening.

14. A fusion reactor comprising: a hydrogen vessel; and an apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, arrangedto generate negative muons impinging on said hydrogen vessel, to catalyzefusion in said hydrogen vessel.